Historically, gas stoves or "ranges," such as that shown in FIG. 2 of the patent which issued to Brown (U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,459) were provided with a flat main top, or cooking surface having large openings therein for location of the burner heads. The openings were spanned by metal grates for support of a cooking pot above a corresponding burner. Ordinarily in such structures an annular gap was present between the outer surface of the burner head and the edge of the main top burner opening, which gap permitted liquid or food spillover from a cooking pot to flow through, under the main top, and into the stove cabinet or burner chamber beneath the main top. This resulted in a great deal of time and effort being spent in opening the stove main top to clean therebeneath in an effort to prevent the presence of unpleasant odors and the attraction of insects as a result of accumulation of food substances.
This common drawback of older gas ranges was addressed by the advent of a construction for gas stoves in which the gas burner heads were "sealed" to the main top of the range in such a manner that no gap existed between the burner head and the stove main top through which foodstuffs and liquids could enter the burner chamber. (One example of such prior art sealed burner mounting structures is seen in FIG. 7 and is discussed in detail hereafter). The usual sealed gas burner ranges offer a great advantage to modern consumers who are much too busy to spend the time required to disassemble and scrub beneath a stove top at any but the most infrequent intervals.
However, a major disadvantage of previous sealed burner ranges becomes apparent when testing or servicing thereof is necessary. Generally, sealed burners are mounted within the burner chamber on one or more independent brackets and have a burner head structure consisting of at least two parts and which is directly sealed to the main top, for example by screws, in such a way that the burner heads must be completely disassembled in order to remove the stove main top for access to structures therebeneath. These prior art burners cannot be safely lit and the gas supply thereto cannot be initiated unless the burners are fully assembled in their normal functional positions sealed, to the stove main top. Previously, no sealed gas burner ranges existed in which the main top could be removed from the stove, away from the burners during testing or servicing thereof, or to make other adjustments to internal elements of the stove.
Although the precise burner mounting structure varies with different brands of known sealed gas burner ranges, in all cases the entire multi-part burner head must be completely assembled and fully connected to the main top before the burners can be safely lit after servicing or, for example, after installation adjustments. Access to certain stove parts, such as gas pipes and burner ignition wiring, however, can only be accomplished by opening or fully removing the main top of the stove, leaving the burners in an inoperable state.
Therefore, if an adjustment is made, a leak is sealed, etc., it can only be tested for correctness by completely reassembling all of the burner mounting assemblies (usually four), replacing the main top and screwing down all attachments to each burner (normally, at least three screws per burner) before the gas pressure can be turned on and a burner can be lit. This procedure clearly requires a great deal of time and patience to make fine adjustments and may result in careless and inadequate servicing, in addition to being very costly. For example, a single service call, such as to change a stove from liquid propane ("LP") to natural gas, or vice versa, could require four or five separate removals and replacements of the stove main top. This effort is absolutely necessary for safety in lighting and accuracy in testing the stove, in order to ensure proper connection of all gas carrying parts.
Other examples of reasons for service calls requiring access to the inside of the stove and, previously, disassembly of the burners, include to repair leaks, to adjust/replace the air shutters which control air/gas mix going to each separate burner, to replace wires and to replace gas lines. Thus, throughout the useful lifespan of a particular gas range, the known sealed gas burner mounting structures can entail a very large amount of service time, and thus expense, for the stove to function efficiently and safely.
Also, during initial production of a gas stove it is preferred to separately test the integrity of all gas lines and seals under pressure with both natural and liquid propane ("LP") gas, to provide a better, safer product. This formerly entailed complete assembly, testing, disassembly, adjusting, reassembly, retesting and repeating various steps if leaks were discerned or adjustments had to be made. Clearly, this process requires a great deal of time on the production line and thus increases the cost of manufacture substantially. In fact, performing this testing on the production line increases the on-line time for this single step by approximately five fold, from about two to about five minutes.
In order to perform such testing any faster in conventional sealed gas burner ranges on the assembly line would require special equipment and tools not needed for testing non-sealed burner gas ranges or the stove burner mounting structure presently described and claimed. Thus, because of the great increase in manufacturing and end-product cost entailed in adequately testing and adjusting known sealed burner gas stoves, this step is usually simply omitted. Instead, the stove parts are installed and the unit is shipped, delaying the time and expense of burner adjustment and testing for integrity of gas bearing elements.
Ultimately, certain of these steps must then be performed in the consumer's home or other place of stove installation, deferring the cost, but eventually passing it on to the consumer nonetheless. Clearly, for safety reasons, such testing should not be completely foregone; although, in reality it may be omitted by careless delivery personnel, creating a substantial safety risk to the user.
Thus, with the above concerns in mind, the new assembly claimed herein for mounting sealed gas burners in a gas range was developed. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly for mounting sealed burners in a gas range in a manner that permits safe lighting and operation of the burners for testing and/or adjustment of the gas lines and other stove elements while the stove main top is open and separated from the burner heads.
It is also an object of the invention that testing and adjustment with the stove main top open, separated from the burners may be performed in the factory, as a final stage of assembly, or at the ultimate site of installation.
It is further among the objects of the present invention to provide an assembly having the features indicated that permits of such adjustment and testing in a quick, facile and economical manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a burner mounting assembly having the features indicated that consists of few parts relative to prior constructions, which parts are largely formed of commonly available materials, and is simple and economical to assemble.
It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide a gas burner mounting assembly in which the burner units are not formed of multiple pieces, but consist of one piece burner heads, each with an integral gas pipe fixed thereto.
It is further among the objects of the present invention having the above features to permit rapid, economical adjustment and testing of sealed gas burners and related parts in a gas stove during manufacture thereof on an assembly line, or otherwise.
Thus, in furtherance of the above objects, the invention is, briefly, a sealed gas burner mounting assembly for mounting sealed gas burners in a gas stove having a cabinet including upstanding side walls and a main top with spaced-apart burner openings therein and which is mounted on the upstanding side walls. The assembly includes a sub-top mounted on the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet substantially parallel and beneath the stove main top so as to effectively span the area bounded by the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The sub-top is adapted for functional connection thereto of at least one gas burner. The assembly is adapted for mounting the sub-top on the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The assembly also includes at least one gas burner. Each of the gas burners extends through a correspondingly positioned opening in the stove main top and is functionally connected to the sub-top in such manner that the main top may be removed from the stove without disturbing the functional connection of the at least one gas burner to the sub-top. The assembly furhter includes an adapatation for connecting the at least one gas burner to the sub-top.
The invention is also, briefly, the combination of a gas stove and a sealed burner mounting assembly. The gas stove has a cabinet with upstanding side walls and a main stove top mounted substantially horizontally on top edges of the upstanding side walls of the cabinet of the stove. A divider is positioned transversely within the upstanding side walls parallel to and spacedly beneath the main top of the cabinet so as to define a burner chamber therein, the divider forming a floor of the burner chamber. The sealed burner mounting assembly includes a sub-top mounted within the stove cabinet substantially adajacent and parallel to and beneath the stove main top so as to span the area bounded by the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The sub-top has at least one aperture formed therethrough for receiving a gas burner head therein. The assembly is adapted for mounting the sub-top within the stove cabinet, and there is at least one gas burner having a one-piece head and a gas pipe having inner and outer ends integrally connected at its inner end to the one-piece head. The gas pipe extends forwardly within the burner chamber beneath the sub-top and is connected at its outer end to a burner control on the stove cabinet. The gas pipe is journaled at the inner end thereof in a correspondingly sized aperture in the sub-top, and the one-piece head is removably connected to the subtop, being positioned above and connected to the sub-top in such manner that the main top may be removed from the stove for servicing and testing the at least one gas burner without requiring removal thereof from its normal functional position on the sub-top. The assembly also includes an adaptation for functionally connecting the one-piece head of the at least one gas burner to the sub-top so that removal of the stove main top from its normal position for cooking does not require movement of the assembly, nor impair normal functioning of the burner head while the stove main top is removed.
Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinbelow.